Mother, That's a Load
by Grykon
Summary: Continuing my Uncivil War story line, my re-imagining of 3x09. AU 50.008 It's Thanksgiving and a Mysterious real estate developer, a Ms Veronica Franklin needs the teams help.
1. Chapter 1

As Paige walked into the Garage after they returned from Ireland, Ralph flew into her arms, and Paige had tears run down her face as she remembered her little boy who only a few years ago couldn't stand her touch. Cabe pushed Walter into the Garage behind her followed quickly by Sylvester.

"Welcome back guys," Happy told them from her work area. "Just in time for Thanksgiving tomorrow, how was the rest of your vacation?"

"Happy, it was amazing, walking around the Dublin Castle, to think of the history of it, over 700 years of history." Sylvester told her with enthusiasm.

Walter took over his wheelchair and wheeled himself over to his desk and put his backpack on it.

"Yea, speaking of the past, your friend Bifrost came by to remind you of tomorrow morning." Toby told him as he walked out of the kitchen. Hey 197, how's it hanging?"

Walter looked up and saw Toby wink at him and Walter's eyebrow rose in puzzlement.

Sylvester looked at him weirdly, "You mean Dyfrost?"

Toby laughed, "I don't know he's your friend."

Paige stood up as Ralph broke their hug, and asked, "Did you guys thaw out the turkey?"

Ralph looked at Happy and Happy looked at Toby, "Umm, well, I put it in the fridge."

Paige closed her eyes as she drew in a deep breath, "When did you place it in the fridge?"

Toby swallowed hard, "Like a specific time? I didn't look at my watch but it was like, two minutes before you opened the door."

Paige's eyes snapped open, "Are you kidding me? Toby, you damn well better be kidding me. Do you have any idea how long it takes to thaw a whole turkey?"

Toby started backing away.

Cabe looked at Paige, "You okay kid?"

"Oh sure, just peachy keen, get home from a really great vacation and in less than five minutes I'm stressed out again." Paige told him.

Walter smiled at Paige's choice of word for the Garage. Walter looked at Paige, "Don't stress love, we can just go buy a fresh turkey, you won't have to worry about thawing it."

Paige looked at Walter with love, "Baby, we just got back from a really expensive vacation, we can't really afford to splurge on a fresh turkey. They already cost at least double the price of a frozen one and add to the fact that tomorrow is Thanksgiving; I hate to even consider how much they will charge for one."

Walter smiled and motioned for her to come over, as she walked over he patted the chair next to his desk, and she sat down as he handed her his tablet, "The compensation check from the insurance was deposited into our checking account a couple of days ago. We can afford any turkey you want to get." Walter smiled at her.

Paige looked at him in surprise, and looked at the tablet and smiled. Then Paige frowned and asked, "Wait, why was it deposited into the Scorpion corporate account?"

Walter frowned and shook his head, "It wasn't, it is in our personal account."

Paige shook her head, "Our personal account? Since when do 'we' have a personal account?"

"I told you about that months ago," Walter told her as he started to flip through the mail and throwing away all the junk mail.

Paige stared at him with her mouth open, "Uh, no, you didn't."

Walter looked up at her and frowned, "I didn't? I had you sign the forms after we came home from the hospital the first time. Since you were going to be caring for me I wanted to be sure you had no problems accessing the account."

"I thought those were renewal forms or something for the corporate account?" Paige asked as she stared at him.

Walter shook his head, "No, so if you want, go get whatever you want for Thanksgiving."

"Hey, since I screwed up, I should be the one to go get a new turkey, just give me your bankcard." Toby told them.

Paige turned and stared at Toby, "Give you access to Walter's accounts? I think not. Go put the turkey back in the freezer; we'll save it for Christmas." Paige got up and kissed Walter after giving him back his tablet and walked over to her desk and picked up her tablet but found it almost dead. She hooked it up to the charger, "Guess I'll go to the store later."

* * *

"Cabe, I need potatoes, all of these are sprouting. Would you go get us some please?" Paige called from the kitchen.

"You got it kid," Cabe answered only too happy to leave the Garage for a bit. He loved her but this holiday really had her wound tight especially after Toby forgot to thaw the turkey.

Happy walked over to Walter as he sat at his desk and put several forms in front of him. Walter frowned and picked them up, "I was going to wait until Monday but, you've been served." Happy told him as she walked back over to her work area.

"Petition for Divorce, Irreconcilable differences, Plaintiff Happy Quinn vs Defendant Walter O'Brien," Walter was instantly both extremely happy and a bit sad. Tucking the papers down next to his hip he backed out from under his desk and wheeled into the kitchen and waited a moment for Paige to slow down.

Paige glanced from the turkey she was stuffing to the tablet on the counter next to her and she didn't see Walter and she turned and sighed a breath of relief at him sitting there watching her. "You had me worried for a moment. Did you need me to do something for you?"

Walter smiled as he shook his head and pulled out the papers and Paige looked curious as she removed her gloves and walked over and took the papers and read them. "She's already filed the paperwork? Is that going to cause problems?" Paige asked worried.

Walter shook his head as he smiled, "I agree with Ralph and Toby's assessment, Joyce is going to be sympathetic towards me or us rather. She even told me when Happy was in the hospital that if something should happen between Happy and I, that there was someone else in my life who would welcome the chance to be with me."

Paige smiled as stepped on over and sat in his lap, and kissed him deeply, "She's certainly right about that."

* * *

Walter sat coding for a job when Paige walked out of the kitchen, "Where the hell is Cabe? I sent him out to get potatoes, not to grow them."

Walter did his best to suppress a smile when his phone rang and he answered it. Paige threw her arms up and walked back into the kitchen.

"Hey guys, we got a quick job to do," Walter called out.

Paige stalked out of the kitchen, "I seriously hope you mean a case for tomorrow."

Walter shook his head; "A real estate developer needs a building inspected. Everyone else is gone for the holiday and she heard we employ a genius engineer and so she called us."

"Guilty as charged," Happy chipped in.

"Walter, this is our first Thanksgiving, not to mention our first holiday as a couple. I want perfection," Paige told him seriously.

"Paige, I get that, but this is a simple structural inspection, the agent is desperate." Walter told her.

"Sweet, holiday desperation prices," Happy said.

"Exactly," Walter smiled as he put his laptop into his backpack. "Paige, we'll begin our evaluation of the property while you go over the paperwork with the client. By the time it's signed, we'll be half way done with the inspection. At most only a few hours, it'll take longer then that to cook the turkey right? So pop it in the oven and we can finish it up when we get back."

"Walter, I swear, if this turkey isn't done when we get back, you will be," Paige turned and walked back into the kitchen to put things up.

Walter swallowed hard as he called Cabe to get the guys and get back to the Garage ASAP.

* * *

"Wow, this place is worse than the Garage," Happy told them as they walked through the first level trying to locate Veronica Franklin.

They heard someone speaking a foreign language, "Is that Chinese?" Toby asked.

Walter nodded as Paige continued to push his chair, "Cantonese actually, it's a business deal."

Paige looked down at him, "You speak Cantonese?"

Walter nodded, "I learned it so I could listen to lectures by Chinese physicists." He saw a woman in the shadows, "Ms Franklin?"

The woman hung up her phone and moved out of the shadows towards the group, "Thank you all for coming."

Paige's face grew angry, "No, what are you doing here?" Paige demanded as she stepped around Walter keeping Walter behind her.

"Paige, if you would just let me explain." Ms Franklin said.

"How does Ms Franklin know your name Paige?" Toby asked a little worriedly.

"Her name isn't Franklin, it's Dineen, and she's my Mother." Paige told him in disgust.

"Not good," Happy said.

* * *

"Paige please, I had hired some day laborers and they were using a jackhammer so I could examine the foundation when that section of wall gave way, and well, I found some kind of machine running in an old shaft." Veronica told them.

Walter frowned and rolled himself around and past Paige. "Walter no, do not listen to this woman," Paige told him.

"I'll just take a quick look," Walter called back.

It took him a moment to get past the bricks that had spilled out, "Happy, I need you to come and take a look at this."

As Happy moved forward, _"Guys, we can't listen to her."_ Paige told them.

Toby moved up behind Paige, _"Uh Paige, your letting the weight of your emotional baggage crash your Paige plane."_

_"Toby, I swear I will stuff my foot up your business like you are a Thanksgiving turkey," _Paige warned him.

_"And our session is done,"_ Toby said as he stepped back away from her quickly.

Walter rolled back towards the group with Happy walking next to him, "Paige, a moment please."

Paige started walking over, _"I'm the manager of this ball club and I said we're not helping her."_

Walter jerked his head and Happy walked on back to the group. Walter took her hand, "Paige, I get that there is some serious issues with your Mom and I am not discounting whatever she has done to you in the past. But we got a serious problem here and we got to take this case." Walter told her quietly.

"Why are you taking her side?" Paige demanded.

"I'm not Paige, I am firmly camp Paige. But, what your Mom has stumbled upon is bad, really bad, for all of LA and the surrounding areas." Walter told her.

Paige could see the seriousness in his eyes and sighed, "Okay, I trust you, but I want her gone. She's going to do nothing but cause us problems."

Walter smiled and he began rolling over and Paige grabbed the back of his chair and finished pushing him over to the others. _"I'm never finishing that turkey,"_ Paige complained as they passed her Mother.

* * *

"Guys, what we got here is a serious potential for disaster that will destroy LA, Happy you want to fill them in," Walter told them.

They all stood there staring at Happy as she finished explaining what was in the basement. "Are you kidding me? What the hell was Philochrome doing with a nuclear reactor here in the heart of LA?" Cabe asked.

"It probably saved them a ton of money not having to buy the electricity from the utility." Toby told him.

"Wait, this place has been abandoned for decades, how is it still running?" Cabe asked.

"They illegally spliced it into the power grid to keep it running," Happy told him.

"I'm calling Homeland," Cabe said as he walked off pulling out his cell phone.

"Hey guys, while you brainstorm this, I'm going to borrow Paige for a bit." Toby told them.

Paige looked at Toby and back at Walter, "As long as I can still see Walter, fine."

"You heard the boss 197, stay in sight so we can see you." Toby teased him.

Paige glared at her Mother, "You stay away from Walter."

* * *

_"Everything she's involved with is suspicious," _Paige told Toby.

_"You keep saying that, that she's a liar, she's duplicitous, she's sneaky, but unless you tell me why you feel that way, I can't help you."_ Toby explained.

_"Okay, you want to hear it? Fine, what was your hourly private practice rate?" _Paige asked.

_"Well, it was four hundred dollars an hour. Problem was, racetrack made five hundred dollars."_ Toby half joked.

_"Well, here's twenty bucks. You're retained. __Patient-doctor confidentiality, you cannot tell anyone on the team." _Paige told him as she handed him a twenty from her pocket.

_"Legally I can't, but I-I wouldn't anyway if you had just asked. That being said, I'm keeping the twenty." _Toby told her as he stuff the money in his pocket.

_"My mother is a con woman, a first-degree grifter. Growing up, she was in everything from pyramid schemes that ripped off __PTA__ moms to selling time-shares that she didn't own." _Paige explained_._

_"How did that affect your relationship?" _Toby asked.

Paige looked stunned, "_Relationship? What relationship? She was always doing time, six months here, eight months there. I told my friends that she was a saleswoman who traveled the world making custom perfumes for celebrities. And my dad worshipped her, and when he finally moved out, he took me with him because he knew being around her was unhealthy for a child."_

_"He was right." _Toby confirmed.

_"And every once in a while, she would, she would show up, and, and bring me a gift and I wouldn't open it because I knew how she paid for it. With money that belonged to someone who had been swindled," _Paige explained as her voice broke in sorrow as she continued, _"And my father died, my father died heartbroken because of the woman that you met today. Whatever, I-I've made my peace with it."_

_"Paige, you have not made your peace with it. __You have built-up anger and that's harmful. __You need to talk to your mother in a constructive way, let her know how she's made you feel."_ Toby tried to explain.

_"No, if it were easy talking to Veronica Dineen, I would have had it out with her a long time ago. For years I have searched my soul for any love I have left for her and I've found nothing." _Paige told him.

* * *

As Cabe hung up his phone Veronica stepped up, "Paige seems awful protective of her boss."

Cabe looked at her, "Well, he isn't just the boss of Scorpion, they're dating too."

Veronica made a face, "She's dating a disabled man?"

Cabe's face darkened, "First, Paige doesn't look at things like that and second he isn't disabled. He's recovering from a series of injuries." Cabe stalked off to join back up with the gang.

* * *

**I had hoped that this would be a simple one shot story but there is just so much from the show I like that I have to include it in this re-imagining and so its going to at least be a 2 chapter story, maybe 3. I was almost to 5k words when I decided to break it and post the first chapter now. To the Adventure! -Tim**


	2. Chapter 2

"Hey gang, it looks like we got to handle this on our own. No one is available who can help with this in less than four hours and Homeland has promised logistical support if we need it."

Walter nodded, "I surmised as much. I'm really not much help here physically, I think I need to exchange places with Sly. Give you guys the manpower you will need to accomplish this, as much as I hate to admit it."

"Umm, say again?" Sylvester asked over the coms.

"You heard me Sly, they need manpower here. I can lend intellectual help from the Garage without being in the way." Walter told him regretfully.

Cabe smacked him in the arm as he looked back at Veronica, "Hey, you are never in the way so quit putting yourself down like that, or would you prefer I tell Paige."

Paige walked up behind them, "Tell me what?"

Walter swallowed hard, "I just told Sly we're going to have to change places so you guys can have the manpower you need to get this done and I can just supply intellectual help from the Garage," Walter told her.

Paige looked from Walter to Cabe, before she stepped up to the edge of the shaft, "Have you figured out how to get this thing out of there yet?" Paige asked as she looked over the side of the shaft.

Walter smiled as he pointed up, "I spotted a lift hook in the ceiling, Cabe can take us back to the Garage. While Happy grabs her hoist, you can grab your tablet, and I can just stay at the Garage with Ralph."

Paige frowned, "Baby, what's wrong? Don't tell me nothing, I can see it in your eyes and hear it in your voice."

Walter pulled out his coms. "I'm tired of not being myself. I want to be the man I was, the man," he looked at her and swallowed as he looked away, "the man you fell in love with," he said softly.

Paige squatted down next to him, speaking softly, "Walter, you are still that man, the man you was last year, the man I fell in love with. This," she shook his chair, "This is only temporary. Where is this coming from? As if I couldn't guess," Paige looked over her shoulder at her Mother.

Walter nodded, "Something she said to Cabe, just makes me worry, what, what if I can't get past this point, stuck in some weird limbo between who I was and who I should be."

Paige kissed him, "Do you not realize how far you have come? Your therapists are completely amazed, anyone else would have been set back weeks if they suffered the attack that Tim inflicted on you. But you didn't let that slow or stop you, you refused to be set back from where you were before the attack, forcing yourself to achieve the same results before. You have continued to be that solid rock we all depend on. And the therapists and Dr are still saying you will recover completely."

Paige took his hands in hers, "But no matter what, even if this is the best you will ever be physically, so long as we stand together, we're just going to keep getting stronger, together." Paige kissed him, "I love you."

Walter smiled as he nodded, "Thank you, I love you too." Walter slid his coms back in, "Okay guys, Toby I want you to go with Veronica, follow us to the Garage, Paige can then go with you to the hardware store and pick up packing material, stuff that we can use to pad the bottom of the machine in the truck. Happy, we'll go with Cabe and Paige to the Garage. Let's get going."

Paige walked over to her Mother, "I told you to stay away from Walter, you mess with my man again and I will bury you."

Veronica looked shocked, "Paige, I-."

"Shut it, you destroyed one man I love, I will not let you do it to another." Paige told her with heat as she turned to go back over to Walter and pushed him out of the building.

* * *

"So, Toby is it? Why didn't Paige just come with us to the hardware store? Why do we have to go to the Garage first? How long has Paige and Walter been dating?" Veronica asked.

"Toby, I swear to God, you better not answer one question of hers concerning me." Paige warned him over the coms.

Toby's eyes opened wide, "I, uh, I'm not sure."

"Paige, I'm just trying to learn more about you, since you won't talk to me, I have to ask someone." Veronica said through the coms.

Paige looked at Walter, "Who's idea was it again to give her a com?"

Walter looked at her as he mimicked Toby, "I, uh, I'm not sure." He swallowed hard as Paige glared at him, "Sorry, it was me."

* * *

Paige held onto her tablet and looked at Walter as he sat before the monitor tree, recalling the last time she left the Garage with him sitting there. "I love you Walter, I'm really nervous, can't someone stay with you?" she told him.

Walter smiled, "I love you too Paige, I got Ralph, he's more than enough." Walter smiled at the young genius as he played one of his games. Walter looked back up at Paige, "Do you need us to do anything with the turkey while you are gone?"

Paige smiled, "Well if you want, baste it every thirty minutes. Make sure you take it out of the oven when the digital thermometer goes off if we aren't back by then."

"Hey kid, let's get going," Cabe told her over the coms.

Paige rolled her eyes and kissed Walter, "I love you."

Walter smiled, "Love you too."

* * *

Happy began climbing up the inside of the shaft carrying a rope that was tied to the other end of her hoist. "Happy, be careful. That's at least a thirty foot fall," Sylvester warned her.

"Thanks for the obvious tip," Happy said sarcastically.

"Hey, I care about you, so deal with it," Sylvester told her.

Once Happy reached the top she began pulling the rope up until the hoist reached her. She hooked the hoist to the lift hook Walter had seen in the ceiling. Cabe had gone down into the basement and hooked the chains Happy had brought with them to the lift points on the reactor. "Okay Happy, I've got these connected," Cabe said though the coms.

* * *

"Hey guys, we got a problem. The hardware store is closed." Toby told them through the coms.

Paige looked and saw the grocery store next door was still open, "No worries, follow me."

Allie Jones was standing just outside of the doors, _"Support Sanjay Patel for alderman?"_

Paige's face showed how angry and irritated she was and she reached out and slapped the clipboard out of her hands, "_I'm a Sylvester Dodd woman"_

Toby looking embarrassed reached down and picked up the clipboard, "_She's having a rough day."_

Allie nodded in confusion as she took the clipboard back.

* * *

"Okay Sylvester, hook the 2 sets of chains to the hoist chain," Happy told him.

Sylvester connected the chains and tugged at them to be sure, "Okay, connected here."

Happy looked down as she took hold of the chain, "Look out below." Happy jumped off the ledge holding onto the chain and the resistance of the hoist slowed her fall as it pulled the chain up from the basement until it jerked tight and she stopped just inches above the first floor.

Sylvester reached out and grabbed Happy's backpack and pulled until she was out of the shaft and she dropped to the floor. Happy looked at Sylvester, "Thanks. Okay Cabe, I'm coming down, you come up here and get ready to pull this sucker up after I disconnect it from the power grid."

"Copy that," Cabe answered as he turned and left.

Following Happy's direction Cabe pulled the reactor up about three feet with the hoist when she stopped him. "Toby, how close are you guys to being back?" Happy asked.

"Parking at the loading dock now my little Asian noodle," Toby answered.

"Gross," Ralph said as he listened with Walter.

Walter smiled.

"Couldn't agree more Ralph," Sylvester chimed in.

"Okay, I'm disconnecting the reactor from the grid, get ready to start lifting again." Happy told Cabe. A quick yank and the wire came free, "Alright that's it Cabe, lift away."

Cabe started pulling the chain and the reactor began lifting up again. Happy took off for the stairwell back to the first floor.

Paige walked in to watch and stood back giving Cabe and Sylvester plenty of room when Veronica stepped up behind her, "Paige, can I please say something to you?"

Paige turned and glared at her, "What are you even still doing here?"

"Trying to help, please?" Veronica asked.

Paige rolled her eyes, "What?"

"I'm really sorry that Walter overheard what I said to Cabe. It wasn't meant as something bad about him and certainly not about you. It was just about me. Your father was literally perfect, and I had problems dealing with even the little amount of needs he had of me, so just the thought of being in a relationship with someone who would need that much more from me, just bothers me. You are not me, thank God, and Walter, he is amazing, and I know that one day soon he will be back to his normal self." Veronica told her.

"He is amazing, but how would you know that?" Paige asked as she wiped a tear from her eye.

Toby walked by to help the others.

Veronica smiled, "Paige, I've been following your career with Scorpion since I first learned about it. After Scorpion saved that billionaire's daughter, so I did a lot of researching and digging. A few people I know with questionable backgrounds helped me get a lot of the information. You all are so amazing. So of course when I was released I had to come see for myself."

Paige tried to look mad as she simply said, "Thank you."

Toby turned and looked at her, "Released?"

_"Arizona State Penitentiary for Women,"_ Veronica admitted.

_"Grandma's a jailbird,"_ Ralph added.

Toby, Sylvester and Cabe grabbed the rope Happy secured to the reactor once it was just above the first floor and as they pulled Happy lowered the reactor until they had it on the pallet on the floor. Happy grabbed the pallet jack and slid it into the pallet and jacked it up, "Cabe, you take this out, I'm running out to get the truck ready to hook the cooling system to the battery."

* * *

"Okay guys, remember, no more than 25 MPH, you don't want anyone getting hurt if that reactor moves in the back and we don't want the cooling system pipes getting cracked," Walter told them over the coms as Happy finished hooking the cooling system to the battery.

"Shotgun," Toby called as he ran down the stairs to the cab of the truck.

Sylvester sighed, "Son of a bee sting," as he stepped into the back of the truck along with Happy and Cabe, Paige walked down the steps to go to the cab when she heard her Mother behind her, "Where do you think you're going?"

"With you, I want to help," Veronica told her.

"No, just walk away like you always do," Paige told her as she continued to walk down the side of the truck.

Toby looked out his window, "Hey Paige, can you drive a stick?"

Paige froze, "See, I told you, you should have let me teach you how to drive one." Veronica grinned as she ran past Paige to climb in the truck.

Toby smiled out of the window, _"Mother trucker."_

Paige made a face, but climbed up into the truck next to Toby.

* * *

As Veronica pulled out onto the road she glanced over and saw Paige looking at her tablet watching Walter and Ralph. "Is that my grandson?"

"None of your business," Paige said curtly.

"What's my grandson like?" Veronica asked sincerely.

"None of your business," Paige told her.

At the same time as Toby said, "He's delightful," Toby immediately regretted it as Paige glared at him. "I mean, none of your business." Toby said.

"A nuclear explosion would be good right about now," Toby said quietly.

"Does Walter know you are watching him? Don't you trust him?" Veronica asked.

"Of course he knows and yes I do trust him and again, it's none of your business." Paige told her.

* * *

"What the, Walter, this route Sly mapped out for us is a bust, the street is blocked by the parade." Toby called over the coms.

"Impossible, I took the data from the website," Sylvester defended himself.

"They must have expanded the parade route without updating the website, give me a minute to look for alternatives." Walter told them.

_"Hey, we're right next to the muni golf course. No cars, no barricades, we can drive right through the city." _Paige told them.

Walter smiled as he punched up their website, "Paige that is brilliant." Walter put his finger on the monitor and ran down the screen as he read. _"According to its Web site, it's closed for the holiday weekend. There shouldn't be anybody on the course."_

"Okay guys, here is what you need to do, because the ground of the course is going to be so soft you need to build shock absorbers to protect the reactor." Walter told them.

"I don't think I like where this is going," Sylvester said making a face.

"How exactly are we going to build shock absorbers?" Cabe asked.

"Easy, out of the storage straps I saw in the back of the truck," Walter told him.

"Walt, they don't have any give, they can't absorb any shocks." Cabe told him puzzled.

"No, the straps are to hold the shock absorbers in place." Walter told him.

Cabe watched as Happy started wrapping one of the straps around herself, "Happy, what are you doing?"

"What Walter wants us to do, we'll strap ourselves to the truck and then we'll lift and hold the reactor in the air, we'll be the shock absorbers." Happy told him.

"That's what I was afraid of," Sylvester grimaced.

"Wait, the three of you can't lift that reactor and keep it supported across the grounds," Paige told them.

"Well I guess I will go back and help them then," Toby told her.

"Like hell you will, you aren't leaving me alone with this woman. I'll go back there." Paige told him as she opened the door and left the cab.

Paige steeled herself as she walked around the truck leaving her tablet in the cab, "Walter, I'm going to need you to talk a bit more since I have to leave the tablet in the cab."

"Okay, but Paige, this is not going to be easy," Walter told her.

Paige opened the back door, "To protect my two men, I'll lift that damn thing by myself, no problem."


	3. Chapter 3

Toby shut the storage door back and jumped back into the cab and Veronica took off for the course.

Veronica drove over to the edge of the golf course and waited as the gang finished preparing themselves for what came next. "Okay, on three guys we lift." Happy told them as she visually double checked everyone's straps. "One, Two, Three," there was a loud collective groan as they strained and lifted the reactor off the bed of the truck, "Let's go Veronica."

Veronica accelerated and left the parking lot and started driving across the greens, "Should I increase speed?"

"No, the soft earth could cause a problem if you are going too fast, slow and steady is the key." Walter answered her.

"This thing is getting heavy," Sylvester complained.

"You want to see heavy? Keep letting your side sag, now man up and lift," Happy demanded.

They all heard a knock against the side of the truck, "What was that?" Paige asked.

They started hearing more knocks against the truck. _"We're getting pelted by golf balls,"_ Toby told them.

_"__What? The site said the course was closed," _Walter said.

_"__The course, not the range," _Cabe told him.

More and more golf balls began hitting the truck, _"Aah, Geez, Those jerks must be aiming at us," _Paige exclaimed_._

_"__I would too, if I saw a truck on my driving range. Uh, Happy, would it be bad if one of the wire connectors you rigged were broken by a golf ball?"_ Toby asked as he looked in the side mirror.

_"__Mushroom-cloud bad,"_ Happy answered.

Veronica asked, _"Should I drive faster?"_

_"__No. It's too dangerous," _Walter exclaimed.

_"__What is their problem?" _Paige asked.

_"__It's human nature. We got balls, clubs, a moving target, and frat boys home on Thanksgiving break. This is what they do. Damn it, I guess I'm doing this." _Toby said as he started to crawl out the window, unaware he knocked Paige's tablet to the floor of the cab.

Paige asked, _"Doing what?"_

_"__Becoming a human piñata, I'm going to protect the connector box." _Toby replied.

* * *

Toby shrieked, _"Aah! Try to break it now, jerks! Ow! Aah! Ow!_

_"__Man, they're really nailing him."_ Happy admitted.

_"__Kind of wish I could see that." _Cabe said wistfully.

_"__Just a few more yards Toby,"_ Walter told him as he monitored their progress.

_"__We're off the course now. You can put the reactor down." _Veronica told them as the truck left the course.

_"__Okay, _guys_, carefully, gentle." _Happy said.

Paige asked, _"You okay _Toby_?"_

_"__Uh, never worse," Toby answered._

* * *

As Toby climbed back in the window his foot came down on top of Paige's tablet on the floor board. As he put his weight on the tablet he heard a crunch and his head came up, "Oh crap," Toby exclaimed.

"What's wrong?" Happy asked.

Toby picked the tablet up from the floor and saw it was nearly cracked in half, "Uh, nothing."

"Man, that was grueling, Walter are you okay?" Paige asked.

"I'm fine love, I'm so proud of you." Walter told her and Paige could hear the sincerity in his voice and she smiled.

"Hey Mom, pull over so I can come back up front for my tablet." Paige told her.

"Uh, Paige, I think your battery is dead," Toby told her still looking at the destroyed tablet.

"What? It was fully charged, I should have another three hours easy." Paige was beginning to panic.

"Nope, definitely not working, sorry," Toby stared at the tablet.

"Its okay love, I'm right here, Ralph is here with me and everything is fine. You got this." Walter told her.

Veronica pulled her coms out and looked at Toby who did the same, "What is going on between Paige and Walter? Why is she constantly watching him on that tablet, why did she need to hear his voice while back there? Why is she freaking out about that tablet?"

Toby sighed, "I didn't tell you this, but, the last mission we had to leave Walter alone he was almost killed by Paige's ex, as in he was in the middle of gutting Walter. If Cabe's friend hadn't arrived when he did he would have killed him. He's been dealing with PTSD and she's been dealing with anxiety over it. The tablet has been the only thing that helps her to leave his side."

Veronica reached up and wiped at the tears in her eyes.

* * *

There was a gunshot and they both quickly stuck their coms back in. "What the hell was that? Who's shooting at us?" Paige demanded.

_"__They found me, I don't know how, but they found me."_ Veronica said as she looked in the side mirror and saw a black SUV behind them.

"Oh great, your business dealings are going to get us killed now." Paige said.

They ducked as more shots were fired and several holes punctured the side of the truck. "If they hit the cooling system," Sylvester fretted.

"We know Sly," Cabe told him.

"Ralph, I got an idea, do you see what I see?" Walter asked.

Ralph smiled, "I'll hack into city's train system."

Walter grinned at Ralph. "Veronica at the next light turn left," Walter told her.

"Dad, I'm in." Ralph told him.

Walter smiled as he watched the young man find the crossing guard system on Beach Cove, "Ready Dad."

"Veronica, keep driving no matter what and go on across the tracks." Walter looked at his watch and then back at the screen as he tracked their position on the street, "Close the armguard, and, now." Walter told Ralph.

"Guys, this will be violent, hold the reactor steady." Happy told them as they followed suit and grabbed hold of the reactor to hold it in place.

The truck passed under the armguard just in time as it came down and the dark SUV following them crashed through it smashing their windshield and driving part of the arm into the engine block rendering the vehicle useless.

_"__Oh, yeah, nice job, Ralph, you nailed them,"_ Toby told him as he pumped his fist.

_"__What the hell, Mom?" _Paige exclaimed.

_"__I had no idea that they would resort to this kind of violence." _Veronica answered.

_"__Who, you know what, don't tell me. You're just going to lie anyway. We're going to get the reactor to the film vault, Happy's going to splice its cooling system into the grid, and you can walk home. I am so done with you," _Paige ranted. They all heard an alarm through the com that went off on the dash and the engine shut off as several warning lights lit up and the truck began slowing, _"What now?" _Paige asked.

* * *

Happy stood back up as she brushed off her hands after looking at the engine, "It's a GPS kill switch."

Paige turned to her Mother, _"Wait, when you rented this truck, what did you do?"_

_"__I said I had a rented truck. I never said I rented a truck. Someone with a credit card ending in 3939 rented it, technically."_ Veronica answered.

_"__Great, the credit card company picked up the fraud, and the rental place used the GPS to shut down the truck. Thanks, Mom. If millions of people die, it'll be your fault." _Paige told her in disgust.

_"__Okay, no go. They make these switches complicated for a reason. We don't have the tools or the time for me to get the battery running again." _Happy told them as she turned away from the engine.

Paige asked,_ "Bottom line?"_

Happy told her, _"Bottom line, we've got about nine minutes until meltdown."_

_"__Walt, you got to figure a way to cool this reactor without a battery." _Cabe said with desperation in his voice.

"Checking, okay, you guys are less than three miles to the ocean," Walter was interrupted.

"Uh, Walt, I know what you are thinking but the liquid metal can't come in contact with water." Happy reminded him.

"Yea, the pipes will crack in the cold ocean water and then explode." Toby continued.

"Correct, that's why we have to drain the coolant first." Walter told them.

Cabe looked stumped, "Into what? You said it would explode coming into contact with the moisture in the air."

"But if you can drain it into oil, the oil would protect it." Walter told him.

"Hey, look at that, we went so far out of the way to get away from those guys we're back at the parade route." Cabe said excited.

Happy asked, "So what?"

"It's a churro cart," Cabe explained as he ran down the street and pulled out his badge, "In the name of the US government I am commandeering this churro cart and all your oil."

Sylvester watched as Happy hooked up the hose to the coolant system, "Make sure it's a vacuum seal."

"That's the plan," Happy told him.

They watched as the molten metal flowed down the hose and into the container of oil. "We got to make sure we drain the whole system." Happy told them as they watched the last of the metal flow into the oil container. "Okay, we got about eight minutes now before this thing over heats."

"Uh Walt, maybe we should have asked this first, how do we get it to the ocean?" Cabe asked.

"A parade balloon float, see if there is one nearby," Walter told him.

They turned to look just as the Super Fun Guy balloon was being walked across the street and Cabe took off and broke through the parade line holding up his badge, "In the name of the US government, I am commandeering this Super Fun Guy balloon."

After they got the reactor hooked up to the balloon, "Veronica, give Happy your phone." Walter told her.

Happy took the phone and stuck it inside the reactor panel, "Now they can use your phone to find the reactor in the ocean." Happy told her.

"Perfect, wind speed is 10 MPH due west, you'll need to puncture it at a 45 degree angle." Walter told them.

"Sylvester, you might want to look away for what is about to happen." Cabe told him.

"Yea, Super Fun Guy is about to take it in the tuchus," Toby teased him.

Sylvester closed his eyes as Toby yanked the cord that released the valve on the helium tank and got the balloon moving. Cabe drew his service weapon and took aim and shot the balloon in its rear.

Everyone turned to look in the direction of the sound coming from the balloon, sounding like a giant and prolonged fart.

"Guys, the balloon is coming up on the radar, and it's traveling at 80 MPH." Walter told them.

"That gives us a splash down of two minutes and fifteen seconds," Sylvester told them after a simple calculation.

* * *

Paige turned to Toby, flexing her fingers, "Where's my tablet?"

Toby grimaced as he walked to the cab of the truck and opened the door. He grabbed the tablet off the floor of the cab and walked back with it and gave it to Paige.

Paige stood there in disbelief, "What the hell Toby?" Panic was rising within her and they could see it on her face.

"I told you I thought the battery was dead," Toby told her.

Paige continued to stare at the tablet, "Yea? You left out the part that my tablet was destroyed. What happened to it?"

Toby swallowed, "Well, when I climbed out the window I must have knocked it on the floor and when I climbed back in I accidentally stepped on it."

Cabe glared at Toby, "Okay, everyone but Walt and Paige take your coms out, and Walt can just keep talking to Paige until we get back to the Garage."

Paige smiled gratefully at Cabe as everyone but Veronica removed their coms.

* * *

Paige climbed out of Cabe's SUV, "Man, I am so tired and I still got to finish dinner."

"We could make a quick run over to Kovelsky's," Happy suggested as she closed her door.

"Kovelsky's for Thanksgiving? No, and after today we all deserve a real dinner, I'll just have to push through it." Paige sighed, as anxious as she was to see Walter, she couldn't work up the energy to move any faster as they walked slowly towards the door.

"Kid, I know you wanted this to be a special day considering it is your first holiday with Walt, but cut yourself some slack, we just saved LA, how much more special could it be." Cabe told her as he put his arm around her and hugged her tightly.

A car pulled up and Veronica got out, "Hey guys."

"What are you doing here Mom?" Paige demanded tiredly.

"Well, I know how tired everyone is, and with as long as we were gone, your turkey is probably ruined, so I thought rather than you trying to finish dinner and putting up with a dry, overdone turkey, I'd bring over Chinese for everyone." Veronica brought out two bags of food from her car.

Paige asked, "Chinese for Thanksgiving?"

"Hey, I like this idea, its better than Kovelsky's and you don't have to do anymore work," Cabe told her.

"Fine, whatever," Paige opened the Garage door in disgust, and walked on inside the Garage.

Paige stopped; her eyes wide, "Hey something smells real good." Cabe said as he came in.

Cabe and the gang all stopped behind Paige as they saw the table set up and loaded with all kinds of food.

Walter rolled out of the kitchen holding the turkey on his lap, "Oh, hey guys, welcome back." Walter smiled at his friends as he sat the turkey on the table and turned and wheeled back into the kitchen.

Paige slowly continued to walk in, "What is all of this?"

Ralph came walking out carrying two pumpkin pies and sat them on the table, "Well, Dad knew how much you wanted a perfect Thanksgiving so we've been working on it in between helping you guys on the coms."

Paige smiled with a tear in her eyes and quickly walked into the kitchen and found Walter tossing a salad and she grabbed his chair and turned him around and sat down on his lap and hugged him tightly, "Thank you."

Walter smiled as he hugged her back, "Hey, it was the least I could do after screwing it up taking this case."

Paige smiled, "Yea, but if you hadn't we could all be dead right now so."

Veronica walked into the kitchen; she smiled seeing Paige sitting in Walter's lap, "Well, what do you want me to do with this?"

"I guess we can add it to the feast," Walter told her.

"Walter, you may have heard me already as I explained to Paige, but I just want to tell you face to face, what you heard me say earlier, it honestly wasn't about you or her it was just about me, about my short comings. I honestly think you are amazing and after witnessing Paige and her feelings for you and hearing the love in your voice for her, comforting her during her anxiety, and seeing what you did to make this a good day for her; I think you two are perfect for each other. So please, forgive me?" Veronica asked.

Walter studied her for a moment, "If what you said wasn't about me, or Paige then there is nothing for me to forgive you for. But Veronica, make no mistake, I'm always going to side with Paige, so if she wants you to leave, then you need to leave." Walter told her.

Veronica nodded, "Well, at least I got to see my grandson, even if it was from across the Garage." She gave them a slight smile as she sadly sat the sacks on the kitchen table followed by her coms, and she walked out of the kitchen, and was moving towards the door.

"Hey, Veronica, wait a minute," Cabe called before walking into the kitchen.

_"__You're not going to just let her go are you?" _Cabe asked.

_"__I have no relationship with her. It's uncomfortable," Paige told him._

_"__Right now everyone in America__is getting together and having an uncomfortable family dinner. That's what you do on Thanksgiving._

_Now, come on kid. You're better than this." _Cabe told her. "Besides, you did great work with Walter and his parents," Cabe smiled as he finished.

Paige looked at Walter, "I support your decision, whatever it is love," Walter told her.

"Fine," Paige said disgustedly as she got off Walter's lap and walked out of the kitchen. She looked at her Mom, _"Would you like to meet your grandson?"_

Veronica smiled, _"I'd like that very much."_

Paige took a deep breath, _"Ralph."_ She exhaled.

Ralph came running around from Sylvester's desk, _"Grandma?"_

Veronica smiled even bigger, _"Ralph, it's a true pleasure."_

* * *

Walter wheeled out with the salad and placed it on the table as Cabe brought out the Chinese bags and opened the containers and placed them on the table with everything else.

As everyone began sitting down for dinner the Garage door opened and Allie Jones walked in.

_"__Ms. Jones? Can I help you with something?" _Cabe asked.

_"__Oh, your team of, um, wizards," Allie smiled, "Left their sign-up sheets at the market, not all the signatures yet, but so close."_

_"__Oh, okay. Thank you."_ Cabe told her.

_"__They worked so hard, got some melons thrown at them, so I wanted to return them." _Allie told him.

_"__Okay. Appreciate it. Would you, would you like some _dinner_?" _Cabe asked her.

_"__Oh, I can't. I'm on my way to my sister's for Thanksgiving dinner." _Allie told him regretfully.

_"__Okay, well. Have a nice holiday," Cabe smiled._

Allie tried smiling while looking confused and a little embarrassed, _"You, too."_

As Allie walked out the door, _"Putz,"_ Toby told him.

Cabe was puzzled, _"Huh?"_

_"__Why don't you ask her out?" Toby asked him._

_"__She's at least ten years younger than me."_ Cabe answered.

_"__Everyone's at least ten years younger than you. Cabe, she came here on Thanksgiving to give you something she could've given you next week. As gross as it sounds, she's warm for your form. Great work, Casanova," _Toby told him.

Cabe looked after Allie with a grin.

* * *

Paige looked over at Walter's tablet he had fixed up like hers so she could keep an eye on him, while she lounged in the bathtub, taking a bubble bath, after Walter had insisted to help her relax while he and Ralph were dealing with the after dinner mess.

She saw Walter as he sat in front of the sink scraping the excess food into the garbage disposal. Ralph brought in another stack and set them next to the stack he was working on. "That's the last of the plates; do you want me to start putting up the leftovers Dad?"

Walter smiled, "Thanks buddy, you've been a big help today, and I couldn't have done it without you." As Walter finished all the plates and put them in the dishwasher he turned and grabbed the now empty serving dishes and put them in the dishwasher and started it.

Ralph stood there watching Walter finish putting the dishes in the dishwasher, "You believe Mom, don't you Dad?"

Walter turned and looked questioningly at the young man, "I always believe your Mom, was there something specific you mean?"

Ralph nodded as he stepped up to his wheelchair, "We both love you, this chair you are in, it doesn't mean anything to us. We still value you no matter what."

Walter felt a tear as it ran down his cheek and he resisted the urge to wipe it away. "Thank you buddy, that means the world to me. But I am going to keep fighting because that's what you and your Mom deserve." Walter told him as he pulled the young man over onto his lap and hugged him.

Veronica walked into the kitchen, and smiled seeing Walter hugging Ralph. "Walter, I just wanted to thank you for letting me use the trailer."

Walter looked up, "You're welcome, but I meant what I said earlier. I stand with Paige no matter what."

Veronica smiled, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

* * *

**And so ends the re-imagining of 3x09. There was so much of the story I really liked I just couldn't rewrite too much of it so I hope you have enjoyed it. The 'Back to the Future' reference was particularly one of my favorites of the episode and of course I had to keep Toby being pelted by golf balls, sorry Toby! For those who are enjoying it, tomorrow I will be continuing my 'A Knight In Grief' story. The metrics for that story line suggest that not as many people care for it but since I do, I will keep indulging the story. To the Adventure! -Tim**

**PS if you know MysticalGoddessofWords on some other platform, tell her I am a huge fan! **


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